The Decision to Become a Doctor: Career Prestige and Financial Stability - Essay Example

Personal ment “Oh my god! My feet are slipping from the shoes!” I looked down and was immediately greeted by the white raging stream with protruding rocks in between. Falling would mean instant death for sure. But what was I supposed to do? I had hitch-hiked all the way from South Africa to one of the more remote yet picturesque areas of the country just so I could experience jumping off the highest bungee jump point in the world. I wanted to be one of those people who would free fall from from this bridge that had a majestic waterfall and hiking path. But the shoes I wore that day were borrowed from someone one shoe size too big for me and it served as the catalyst for the life and death situation that I found myself in. I needed a Plan B. What was my Plan B? Pray and sing. I prayed for forgiveness for all my past wrong doings as the rope swung me precariously from side to side and sang the first song that came to mind to get rid of my fear. “Have a holly, jolly Christmas…have a cup of cheer…”. Only then did I realize that I was singing more loudly than I thought I was. The man who caught me half laughingly asked me, “Hey crazy woman, what are you singing?” My motto is doing something is always better than doing nothing as long as it does not kill me. Heck, if I was sure that I would survive wresting with a bear, I would probably have tried that too by now. I lead a life that allows me to experience everything I do to the fullest. It is a life that allows me to see, to feel, to experience, and learn. Which is why I have done many diverse and seemingly unrelated activities such as taking on a noble job as a bible teacher to the children and then doing something insane such as jumping off the 215 meter Bloukarans Bridge in South Africa using only a bungee cord. That adrenalin rush and stress hormones are forced to move throughout my body. Giving me a shot of excitement in my humdrum life. And people would ask me why I would want to become a doctor. I would answer because whenever I worked in the hospitals, help the sick, stand up for those who need my help, I feel that same feeling in my heart. Passion. There were many elements in my life that I had long forgotten about that had unwittingly always been leading me towards this career path. As a child, I had lived through the hell of helping care for my dying cousin. His mother used to force him to take his liquid medicines by pinching his nose so that he would open his mouth and swallow. He kicked and screamed so much while enduring all kinds of bitter medicines his parents thought were good for him. They only knew that they wanted him to get better. But that was not the way, I knew that then just as I know it now. There must be a better way to care for sick children, without making them suffer in order to get better. I declared that I would be a doctor when I grew up to stop my cousins sufferring and make him smile. My cousin did not survive his battle with his illness. It made me very angry that I was powerless to help him. I could not understand why he had to die. I was around 10 at the time and my mother thought that I would better understand the concept of death if I read about it in a story. She chose the book The Little Prince to help me understand why people die and what happens after. The story helped me understand the concept behind “going home” after one dies. But it also made me believe that there are things in the life that can’t be seen or touched but are still essential to life, like the young lamb that the little prince saw through the drawing of a box with holes. And in my life, I tried to search for that special something that was worth devoting my life to. What would it be? As I lost my childhood innocence, becoming a doctor took a backseat as I discovered who I was and what it was that I really wanted to do with my life. That is why my getting back on track towards my childhood dream is something I owe to all those extreme activities. However, my conviction towards becoming a doctor for the poorest of the poor I owe to that one picture I saw of a child dying from hunger who was crawling on the ground just so he could pick up a filthy corn kernel so he could eat it. It was that picture that led me to live in Ghana for some time in order to help care for the sick. I was out of my elements as I lived in extreme poverty situations. I took a bath in muddy water that did little to make me clean. This was the same water which the town’s people drank.The bathroom facilities were merely deep holes dug in the ground which is why underground lizards kept charging toward my buttocks each time I took a personal break. The children at the local orphanage where I volunteered suffered the most because they did not have the voice nor the power to protect themselves from the abusive adults like the local pastor who used them to make money and then whipped them for any misdeeds. It broke my heart to not be able them especially when they were no longer simply African kids seen through the media. They had become my children with personal, strong bonds. In my mind, these were my Little Princes and they were crying out to me for help. Once again, I felt powerless having to let these boys go when I left Africa as I felt when I let go of my cousin. I promised them that I would never let forget them and I would be coming back to help them. By becoming a doctor, I will be able to help them in my own small way. I recently saw a documentary tackling the life of a young doctor who decided to dedicate his life to helping the people of Sudan. He died of cancer last year. People think he decided to give up his promising future and risk his life in order to help those poor people. However, I believe he did not give up anything, because that is what he wanted. It was his calling in life. I liken myself to that man. My passion is to save lives and help those reaching out to me. That is my true passion, and the essential I was searching for. Many are called to become doctors, but not all of those called do it in the name of compassion and selflessness. Unlike them, I am not becoming a doctor for what it can offer me financially. I am becoming a doctor because it is the right thing to do in this world that has already become so uncaring and feeling of the plight of our less fortunate brothers and sisters. I will reach out and wipe the tears of people with my hand. I will become a good doctor whose heart is always going to be bigger than my ego so that I may welcome everyone into a warm and loving home. I will not be the kind of adult obsessed with career prestige and excessive financial stability. The decision to become a doctor, the good doctor, was for me, not really a decision but the only destination that lay ahead for me. When someone asks me why I became a doctor, I always smile and say “Hey man, its all about heart. Listen to mine and you will understand why. “ Read More